Tag Archives: Mt. Emily Ale House

Thebeerchaser raising a mug in Amsterdam during our Rick Steves’ Best of Europe Tour

During the twenty-five + years I worked before retiring in 2011 at Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt, accountability was “part of the gig,” – the case at most large law firms. The New Year started with a review of prior year statistics and accomplishments and setting performance goals for the current year.

A Beerchaser tradition at each stop – a photo of the logo – Shelby and Dave Booher at the Solstice Brew Pub in Prineville

While Thebeerchaser’s Tour of Portland bars, taverns and pubs, initiated in August of 2011, does not have to worry about billable hours worked, improving client relations or analyzing merger possibilities, the habit of reviewing benchmarks from the past year(s) will take additional time (and more brewskis consumed) to depart my cerebellum.

Slabtown – An important institution in an historic neighborhood

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In this spirit (and in preparation for audit….), I submit the following “Beerchaser Year in Review,” which includes an interesting graphic display by WordPress, the blogging software used. For those who want to drill down for more detail (there are after all, several tax lawyers who are followers of this blog), you can click on the link below the graphic.

The final part of this posts includes a listing of establishments visited in the last 2.4 years by year and category i.e. dive bar, neighborhood pub, etc and Thebeerchasers-of-the-Month or Quarter who have been “honored” with this recognition.

I was pleased that, in 2013, there were approximately 15,000 views of this blog from 143 different countries – primarily the result of my effort to “tag” the names of places visited, individuals, or topics I cover, so people searching on Google, etc.may decide to check out the link. This compares with 6,700 views from 96 countries in 2012 – so the audience has grown.

Beer with attitude – er, I mean altitude..! The James Bond Bar at the summit of the Schilthorn in Switzerland

H. G. Wells warned, “Satan delights equally in statistics and in quoting scripture….”and notwithstanding that admonition, the following provides some grist for the number-crunchers – note that I am not including bars visited on our Rick Steves’ Best of Europe Tour, but do count the wonderful venues visited on the four-day road trip to Eastern Oregon.

The bar at the Central Pastime Tavern in Burns. Patty, the bartender, was camera shy but impressed with the city slickers passing through.

Thebeerchaser reviewed 20 bars in 2013, compared to 24 in 2012, which equates to one bar every 18.3 days – slightly less ambitious than the 15.2 days in 2012 and the 17.1 during the partial year of 2011 with eight establishments.

This averages out to a non-weighted mean of 16.9 for the three years with a respectable, albeit somewhat mundane, standard deviation of 1.563 days to accomplish the review of 52 establishments. And remember, many required more than one visit for the due diligence.

Note for the accountants – this figure does not include “accruals,” if you will, i.e. the two bars and one brewery that were visited in 2013, but not yet reviewed and posted (will occur in January.)

The Sasquatch Brewing Company from our August visit

Shown below the WordPress report is a compete listing of the watering holes – by category visited since inception. Of course, bearing in mind the case of the man who drowned crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches, one should be cautious about using averages.

For example, our European Tour of 21-days was a respite from Portland taverns and thus the 2013 work ethic should not be demeaned.

New City Club of Portland Executive Director, Sam Adams, at the entrance to the Tug Boat Brewery – right in Downtown PDX

Here’s an excerpt from the WordPress report:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 15,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

The Yukon Tavern – one of the proverbial Dive Bars visited in the first year of The Tour

Historic or Classic Bars – Buffalo Gap Saloon

Bars that Defy Classification – Prost

Getting the Boot from Emily the Bartender at Prost in 2011

Breweries/Brew Pubs – Amnesia Brew Pub, Coalition Brew Pub

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Beerchaser Honorees

Several times during the year (we fell down slightly on this goal in 2013), Thebeerchaser names a person, group or organization as Beerchaser-of-the-Month or Quarter. These may or may not have any relevance to the primary goal of this blog, but deserve to be “honored” or recognized in some manner. They are shown below and we can all be confident that they do not update their resumes to reflect this acclaim.

2012 – Forrest Green (Musician and consultant), Coach Mike Riley and the 2012 OSU Football Team, Craig Hanneman (retired Willamette Industries executive and former OSU and NFL football player), The Crew of the USS Constitution, Dr. John Walker (Professor of Finance at Portland State University), John Terry (retired history columnist and reporter for The Oregonian) and Dr. Harry Frankfurt (Emeritus Professor of History at Princeton University and author of the book On Bullshit)

I appreciate the followers of Thebeerchaser for their comments and suggestions and am especially thankful to Janet – Thebeerchaser’s spouse of 33 years for letting me indulge in this retirement hobby.

Thebeerchaser and Janet in Paris – summer of 2013

While reviewing 52 establishments in 2 years and five months is noteworthy, the fact that Portland has approximately 750 bars, taverns and pubs is somewhat overwhelming and begs the question as to whether retirement should have started while I was in my twenties…..Convey your suggestions regarding future venues in the blog comments.

After lunch in Burns – a great town where one pundit asserted, “You could get a good meal, rent a movie and hire a contract killer,” we headed southeast on Highway 78 to Diamond, Oregon (population 5) and our final night at the historic Diamond Hotel.

Passing through the most desolate country on this stretch – Burns south past the Malheur National Wildlife Preserve almost to the Steen’s Mountains and the Alvord Desert. We toured the Peter French Round Barn – on the National Historic Register and constructed around 1870 by the cattle rancher who used it to train horses.

More prevalent than cars on Highway 78

The remarkable interior structure of The Round Barn.

About 50 miles south of Burns, we also stopped at the Diamond Crater Natural Area– which reportedly “has the best and most diverse basaltic volcanic features in the United States.” We saw lava flows and tubes and cinder cones from the observation area.

A road through the lava beds and a sign that Dave maintained was a description of Thebeerchaser’s career.

The Diamond Hotel was in a beautiful grove of poplar trees and we believed the sign that said the population of Diamond was only five since the hotel was in essence the center of “the city” – on Main Street.

The Census Bureau had an easy time in this venue

After playing cards and having a beer, we sat down for “Family Dinner” – eight people sitting around a large rectangular table for an outstanding rib dinner with all the accoutrements. The three-hour feast lasted that long because of the fascinating conversations with our fellow diners.

Family Dinner at the Diamond Hotel

Two of the diners were a married couple in their mid-eighties and riding in on their Harley – mid-way through a tour that took them into Montana, Idaho and Oregon.

Another was a high-tech exec from Portland – a German immigrant who rode in on his BMW bike on which he has toured most of the western US and Canada. We were the only boring ones at the table……David Thompson, one of the friendly owners, briefed us on history and shared stories while we were eating.

Notice the Harley and the BMW bike

For those who love our state and want to explore, the Diamond Hotel should be on your bucket list. Built in 1998, it was completely restored in 1990. Shirley and David Thompson, descendants of one of the first families in Diamond bought the hotel in 2001 and now operate it.

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It was headquarters for the Cycle Oregon staff during their 2013 ride this summer, which had a one night stay near Diamond. The rates at the hotel, including the dinner, are very reasonable and it is quaint and interesting.

“Recreation” before Family Dinner

And so ended our four-day road trip. After breakfast, we headed north – this time on Highway 205 back through John Day, then north on 395 and to Steve’s home in Pendleton. We photographed the Stampede Room in Long Creek, which will have to wait until our next trip to raise a mug.

The Stampede will have to wait until the next trip

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We saw amazing sights and reaffirmed the premise of Thebeerchaser’s Tour of Portland Taverns, Bars and Pubs – “Each bar or watering hole has its own unique character, ambiance and clientele,” – only in the central and eastern part of our wonderful state.

Whether sampling the brews of Johnny Brose at the Bull Ridge Breweryand Pub in Baker, kidding Patty at the Central Pastime Tavern in Burns, hearing stories from Heather at the Horseshoe Tavern in Prineville or just photographing the Powder Club Tavern in North Powder – which incidentally, is Under New Management or The Elkhorn Saloon in Sumpter, our visits to the Central and Eastern Oregon bars was outstanding and we would recommend it.

Powder – Under New Management!

We told Eastern Oregon bar jokes like the one about the dog who limped into the bar and said to the bartender, “I’m looking for the guy who shot my paw…!”

or

The bartender who asks the horse who comes into his bar and orders a beer, “Hey, why the long face..?”

Besides the establishments mentioned above we also visited The Solstice Brewery in Prineville, The Long Branch Saloon,The HideoutTavern and 10 Depot Street Bar and Restaurant in LaGrande and The Mt. Emily Ale House in Baker City. These are reviewed in the first three blog-posts of this road trip.

1,346 miles, four nights and eight bars later….

Now back to Portland where the next Beerchaser post will review the fairly new and interesting neighborhood tavern – Church.

The second leg of our four-day Eastern Oregon road trip started at Unity Lake State Recreation Sitewhere we had spent the first night. We headed north through Sumpter for breakfast and to photograph The Elkhorn Saloon. (next trip we will have a beer!)

An historic saloon in an historic Oregon city

Abandoned school-house in Granite

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We drove through Granite and Starkey – a town so small you can wake up next to yourself – passed an immense camp for firefighters which had about 150 tents, and on to LaGrande – which requires a correction from Installment I of the Eastern Oregon tour on this blog. We did not hit the two taverns in La Grande(Long Branch Saloon and The Hideout) until the second day and not on day one.

Catherine Creek –

After visiting the aforementioned two saloons, we pitched our tent that night at Catherine Creek State Park, which is accurately described in the website as, “a cool, quiet and peaceful setting.”

We then contemplated the benefits of escaping from the daily routine and just relaxed in God’s Country as you can see by the picture below………

Away from the daily grind – wait a minute – are those I-Phones??!

We hit the road again in search of a dinner venue – like a good steak considering all the beef on-the-hoof we had observed. We heard good reports on the Cove Tavern and Steak House, but it was closed on Mondays and we ventured into the City of Union.

Pick-up Truck at Cove Tavern and Steakhouse

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Steve, being an educator and astute observer, stated, “You know, both dogs and pick-up trucks seemed to be ubiquitous in these environs.” (He then defined “ubiquitous” and “environs” for Dave and me….) As evidence, we saw the following two signs on taverns we visited:

Keep your dog in your pick-up and not the bar.

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The historic Union Hotel was also rumored to have a great steak and was impressive, but it was closed as was another Union institution – LG Brewskis, a very interesting looking pub which will have to await our next trip.

As we got back on the road, Dave wondered why there were a number of cities with nautical themes in their names, but without a trace of water around. Examples included Cove, Island City and Hot Lake. Our attention span was not sustained long enough to try for an answer.

Unfortunately we could not find out what the LG designated in the name of this pub

Hungrier now, we ended back in LaGrande, which was fortunate because we had a fantastic dinner at 10 Depot Street, a restaurant which also had one of the most impressive bars we saw on the trip.

An impressive bar complemented the great food

Unfortunately, we were not going to be in town for the La Grande Pub Tour“….which kicked off its Celtic Festival,” and for which $10 would secure a ride on the trolley making the rounds. (10 Depot was the first stop.)

A first-rate LaGrande bar and restaurant

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We had a nightcap at the Mt. Emily Ale House – the one disappointment on the trip. Although it was a Monday night, there was a decent crowd, but the bartender was inattentive and did not have a clue about the products produced by his brewery. The beer was also not very impressive, which is also the case with their website.

A disappointment for a number of reasons.

It was a full moon and we were awakened in the middle of the night by screeches and screams – many more decibels in intensity than the snoring which had started early that night. It was coyotes.

Dave then awoke with a start and admired the view of the moon and stars before exclaiming, “Where in the hell is my roof?” before we assured him he was not at home and our tent had a vent-hole at its top.

The next morning, Dave demonstrated his culinary skills with a great breakfast and we headed for Baker. Upon reaching the city we took picture of two more bars before stopping at the Bull Ridge Brewery and Pub. A conversation at 10:50 AM between Steve Larson and his wife gives some context:

Culinary skills helped start the day.

Steve: Hi Babs, we are in Baker waiting for the Bull Ridge Brewery to open. We’ve already been to two bars earlier this morning.

Babs: Isn’t that a little early to start drinking beer?

Steve: No. No. You don’t understand. Don just took pictures of the first two. All we’ve had this morning is coffee so far.

The Stockman Bar deserves an actual visit on the next trip.

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To lend credence to Steve’s assertion, the following are two bars in Baker which we photographed but did not visit on this trip although like General McArthur – “We shall return.”

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The Idle Hour – interesting, but too early to partake

Waiting until the Bull Ridge opened at 11:00, we drank what, for us, was an early beer. Camas, the helpful waitress (named after the flower) told us a little about the establishment which is housed in an historic building – originally a mercantile warehouse and opened two years ago in September.

We had pints of Bull Ridge’s Tumbleweed and Flagstaff Pale Ale, which were excellent. As a side note and rationale for AM drinking, beer was probably the safest liquid we could consume since Baker City was in the middle of a battle with cryptosporidium which had contaminated its water and sickened dozens of residents.

Dave and Steve in an inarticulate and awkward effort to demonstrate that it was 11:00 when we entered Bull Ridge

Camas then told us we should see the Brewer for a tour and we met Johnny Brose, who was a smart, articulate and friendly young guy who gave us a personal tour.

He demonstrated real pride and knowledge of his product and the brewing process. I was both surprised and pleased to learn that he is an Oregon State graduate who earned his degree in Food Science and Technology with a focus on Fermentation Science. OSU is one of only two universities in the US to offer a fermentation degree and is home to an internationally recognized hops research initiative

Brewmaster, Jonny Brose and Camas with Thebeerchaser logo

He was a Baker City High graduate and before returning to his home town he interned at breweries and wineries for a year in Germany learning his craft.

Jonny was extremely helpful and has lofty goals for the brewery. He receives Thebeeerchaser of the Month of November in recognition for his enthusiasm for his profession and his competence in his craft – also being a Beaver.

The pub has an excellent selection of beers on tap and wines and a nice menu. Since we visited, Johnny has rolled out several new beers and his creativity is evident in the names: